Categories: News

Phillies give injury updates on Realmuto, Wheeler, Hoskins & more

The Philadelphia Phillies got Scott Kingery back from the injured list on Monday, but even a home run from the 26-year-old wasn’t enough to avoid losing five of seven games in Miami.

J.T. Realmuto is in a contract season. (Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)

After the game, Joe Girardi gave some more injury updates, some relatively positive, others not so much.

As he continues to try to work through a peculiar issue with the middle finger on his throwing hand, Zack Wheeler threw a 41-pitch bullpen session Tuesday. Barring any setbacks, the belief is that the 30-year-old righty will start at some point during the team’s three-game series with the New York Mets, which opens Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

J.T. Realmuto said that he spoke to Wheeler today, and Wheeler felt that his bullpen session did go well. One thing worth monitoring is that Wheeler told Realmuto that one of his pitches bothered his middle finger more than others, so he may try to steer clear of that pitch. With a large arsenal of pitches, it’s unclear what exact pitch that is and how much it could affect Wheeler’s effectiveness.

Speaking of Realmuto, after undergoing an MRI Monday, J.T. Realmuto has a mild left hip flexor strain. The good news is that he won’t have to go on the injured list. The bad news is that with less than 15 games to go in the regular season, it may still be a few days before the two-time All-Star catcher is able to return to the lineup.

“It feels better today than yesterday – yesterday it was pretty sore,” Realmuto said. “I’m not sure exactly the timetable. I’m going to listen to the doctors and the trainers and kind of let them decide that, but as long as I keep progressing like I did today, I think that it shouldn’t be too long.”

Interestingly, Realmuto suggested that he believes he’s dealing more with an injury to his upper quad, as opposed to his hip.

The update with Rhys Hoskins was less encouraging. An MRI revealed that Hoskins sustained an injury to his left UCL, which will land him on the 10-day injured list. That, as Destiny Lugardo pointed out

, is likely retroactive to this past Sunday, but still will keep him from playing in a good portion of the remaining regular season games. Girardi said that the Phillies haven’t ruled out Hoskins returning in the waning days of the regular season.

Meanwhile, Girardi said that outfielders Jay Bruce and Roman Quinn continue to progress in their attempts to return from the injured list.

Bruce, on the injured list for a second time with a quad injury, has gotten some at-bats in simulated games at Lehigh Valley. He’ll get more tomorrow. He went on the 10-day injured list on Sept. 6, so there’s still a few more days until he’s eligible to be activated. The 33-year-old has provided quite a bit of thump to the Phillies lineup in parts of two seasons, but he’s also dealt with his fair share of injuries. He can become a free agent at the conclusion of the season.

Meanwhile, Quinn went on the seven-day concussion list on Sept. 6 as well, so he’s eligible to be activated. However, concussions (and the subsequent recovery) are very much an inexact science. Girardi said that Quinn still needs to get some at-bats at Lehigh Valley before being activated.

Theoretically, the Phillies have another outfield option now that Kingery is back. However, with Hoskins out, there could be a domino effect in the infield where Alec Bohm shifts to first base, Jean Segura goes to third base and Kingery is needed at second base, leaving the Phillies pretty thin on outfield options.